As first reported by Gator Country on December 1st, Tulane general manager Cole Heard will join Florida’s staff as Chief of Staff to the head coach and the General Manager, multiple sources tell me.
Heard spent the 2024–25 seasons as Tulane’s general manager under head coach Jon Sumrall, following a 2023 stint in the same role at Troy — also working alongside Sumrall.
Prior to Troy, Heard worked for two years at UCF as their Assistant Director of Recruiting from 2021-22.
Heard served as Jacksonville State’s Director of Player Personnel Graduate Assistant coach in 2020 and previously worked in various internship roles with the Cleveland Browns (2019).
A native of Oxford, Alabama, Heard served on the football staff at his alma mater, Jacksonville State, from 2015-19. Heard received both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in sport management from Jacksonville State.
While at Tulane, Heard and Sumrall hauled in back-to-back top three portal classes in the American Conference. In 2023, Troy’s recruiting class ranked fifth in the Sun Belt. While serving as UCF’s Assistant Director of Recruiting from 2021-22, Heard helped guide the Knights to the fourth and second ranked recruiting classes in the American Conference, respectively.
Heard was named a top 22 general manager in college football by CBS Sports prior to the 2025 season. On Thursday, December 4th, Heard was named a finalist for Football Scoop’s 2025 General Manager of the Year Award, joining Texas Tech’s James Blanchard, Texas A&M’s Derek Miller, Vanderbilt’s Barton Simmons, and Indiana’s Matt Wilson.
Florida recently hired former Jacksonville Jaguars general manager and Philadelphia Eagles personnel executive David Caldwell as its own general manager.